Florentia
Florentia O'Doir, also known as Verndari O'Doir and informaly dubbed either Tia, or''' Flore', is a member of the 'Gwyri'dae' tribe, and is its representative during the Summit, as well as the oldest of the 8 Drakes (not counting Anna, who's age is unknown). Biography She was hatched and raised like any other of her tribe, and grew up normally with the exception of a near death experience she had when her curiosity lead her to explore the forest outside the bounds of the Grove. Some sort of creature attacked her, wild and feral, and was about to cut her down when she saw a flash of lightning and a silver blur with a straw hat strike down the creature that attacked her. She then promptly passed out, and upon waking up, her savior was gone. When it came time for her to make her choice, she chose to become a Verndari for what was, at the time, highly selfish reasons; The Verndari were the only faction of her tribe allowed to leave the great forest and explore the world around it, and she wanted to find the one who had saved her, and thank him. Or her. She also wanted to do what her savior did; save people. And that was pretty much the job description of a Verndari; to act as a guardian and caretaker for the Earth, her Tribe, and the People of Vast. She passed the test only barely, and was assigned to La'kade; an older member of the tribe, and, like her, one of the few who's unique talent was binding. Binding was considered a edgy talent to have, due to its tendency to be able to work both ways; those with the binding talent could un-bind things as well, causing damage as easily as mending it. Binding could only be used on organic objects, such as cotton fabric or wood. Though binding COULD be used for healing, due to skin and bones being organic as well, it was highly avoided due to its closeness to one of the Trí Dlíthe; Do no harm to any living creature. With binding, it is incredibly easy to mess up and bind the wrong blood vessels or other such things together, and injure the person/animal instead of healing. Florentia herself was rather bad at it in the beginning, and had a much easier time breaking things down instead of putting them back together again. Even worse for her, her mentor was one of the sink-or-swim kind, and only settled for perfection. In the end of the day, she'd end up surrounded in piles of un-bound plant matter, covered with bruises, and nursing a raging headache. As the years passed, she learned how to control the bindings better, memorized most of the plant and animal species recorded in Vast, how to handle herself fairly well in a fight (with swords), and information about how to power and identify the various mystistuffs that the LaTae , Gwyri'dae , and Fac'lier tribes were known for. She also was taught about the world and cultures and tribes around her, as well as histories and stories and epics. 70% of her lessons focused on solid reading, and though her memory was nowhere near perfect, most of it stuck. During her actual training, she would frequently goof around and spend more time exploring than studding - resulting in her graduating a bit later than average and nearly failing the exams. All the same, she passed, and when the day of her final tattooing and ceremony where she gained the little extra power boost came along, there was much celebration, but she was kind of disappointed that her second talent was Aura Gaze and not something more useful, like healing. After several more turns of final instruction and getting used to her new skill, and managing the old one, she set off into the world as soon as she could in search of the one who saved her. Before she left, she was given the usual things: A cloak, a book, and a few words of wisdom. As she traveled, she helped as many people she came across as she could, asking only for either a place to rest or a few questions answered in return. She traveled the world for only half a turn when she ran into the delegate to the Summit from her tribe, Irrid. He gave her a few pieces of advice and an emerald clasp, as well as some notes he had made of the world during his travels. He was also about to tell her what he knew about the person she was searching for, but was interrupted by an attacker. Personality and Traits Florentia is a curious person, and because she's rather new to the world outside her tribe, she has a tendency to both ask ridiculous questions at the worst times and be highly gullible. Because of her teachings and 100 turns of apprenticeship, she is considerably open-minded to most things. She's what you may call a 'martial pacifist' and 'reluctant warrior' - she tends to try to avoid conflict as much as possible, and often tries to talk to her would-be attackers out of, well, attacking. Even though she's lived a generous 138 turns, she is still barely an adult in the eyes of her tribe - something that shows in her ability to both stay calm in tense situations while making some rather riddiculous (and badly timed) remarks. Because her tribe is somewhat of a legend, she is a bit uneasy about her fame, and becomes awkward when handling any sort of praise or reverance. She also has absolutely no regard for any rules (other than the The Trí Dlíthe) that stand in the way of doing what she deems is "the right thing". She understands nature very well, and was taught to stay neutral as possible and turn the other cheek when she is wronged; something she tries her best to do, but hey, she's only human. or, er. Vastrian. She has been taught that for everything that is taken, something must be exacted in return; as her teacher said, "You either GET what goes around, or ARE what comes around." Though she would like to be the latter, she prefers not to take sides. However, as she journeys though the world, she will come to notice that the rigid line between right and wrong is a whole lot less solid than she thought, and that someone always has to step up and do the dirty work, in order for the good to thrive. She has two major talents (one she's had since birth, and one she's been trained to use) as well as the regular self-healing capabilities of her tribe. 'Talents' The first one, '''Binding', allows her to take two organic objects (like the cloth on your sleeve and the cloth on other sleeve) and 'bind' them together temporarily. Visually it would cause the sleeve to fly towards the other sleeve, and the guy to look like hes slapping his arm. Or, she can un-bind the organic material in his pants, causing it to, well. fall into a pile of rubble at his feet. As the norm with powers such as this, there is a catch: the materials have to be organic (plant or leather) and she'd need contact with soil in order to use it in the first place. It also doesn't work on metals. Bindings can only hold as long as the user can keep it up, but un-bindings tend to be more permanent. The second, Aura Gaze, has both an 'active' and 'inactive' state. Actively, once per person, the user can look into another's eyes and see the kind of person they are/have been, as well as some of their past. This is NOT mind-reading, and she cannot control what she sees. Also, whenever she uses this, the person she's using it on sees her in the same way. Passively, she sees a faint flicker of the 'flame' of living beings as an aura; different colors mean different things. Her Aura sight is weak though. Currently, she can only see the general moral alignment of the person, and if they are sick or not, EXTREME emotion, and faint binds between people that are really close to each other emotionally, such as husbands and wives, parents and children, siblings, etc. She is also in possession of enhanced speed, reflexes, and endurance when compared to most drakes, and is capable of accelerated healing, '''though it is a skill that will only work when used on herself. She is also has a pair of '''flight-capable wings, and is one of the better fliers of her tribe. 'Limits' There are several limits to what she can do, as part of the checks-and-balances that keep her tribe in check. The first is known as the The Tri Dlithe (Three Laws), and are as follows: *One Must Never Kill or Harm With the Gifts Bestowed by The Vast. *One Must Never Break Their Spoken Word or a Promise Sworn to Vast. *One Must Never Defile The Vast or Use Her Gifts Against Her. To sum it up, she can't directly use any talents they have against another living thing to kill it, or to control it against its will, or pollute or harm the planet around them in general. Those of her tribe also cannot lie when speaking aloud, or break any formal oath taken. If they break any of these laws, they get completely cut off from the power of the earth, resulting in Much slower reflexes and a much shorter lifespan. She can also only use her 'active' powers when in direct contact with soil. Those powers are Binding, accelerated healing, and the Active portion of Aura Gaze. She can, however, use her enhanced reflexes, speed, and endurance for a while without contact; the more she uses it, the faster she drains her reserves, and eventually will run dry and not be able to use any talents at all. Her kind is also weak to''' Iron', and if near it, her power drains much faster than normal, to the point of disappearing completely if in direct contact and not standing on soil. Iron poisoning is also a danger, and will sicken her if not treated after a certain length of time. Relationships BLAH Tempest - way out of debt Vyvaer - friend, dead. La'kade - Mentor Trivia *She was saved in her childhood by a (now old) drake of unknown origin. *She seems to have a strong fondness for any kind of food. *People pointing guns seem to annoy her. *Contrary to most of her tribe, she is ''not a vegetarian. Category:Vast Ventures Category:Vastrians